Keith Howard

Local advertisement for playing the Raleigh area*Keith Howard plays a 12 stringed guitar with the uppermost sense of forgetting that he is playing an acoustic guitar and not an electric. His playing is reminiscent of the driving rock roll of the pop era of the 60’s He was brought up on the Beatles, CSN&Y, and cut his teeth on the Kinks, the Byrds and as far as King Crimson. As eclectic as Keith’s personal taste is in music, he says he strives to make the next song sound different from the song before. He says he misses the AM radio where you could hear so many different sounds, from Motown to Rock and everything in between, but the one thing that tied it all together was the backbeat. Keith doesn’t consider himself too complicated and says some of his lyrics are serious, some are for fun and some are subliminal. All he hears sometimes is the voice just being another instrument. If you’ve ever been run over by a jumbo12 string guitar before in the triangle…. It was probably Keith’s ***** I am a product of my generation. I was brought up on the AM radio in the sixties and loved listening to the top 10 hits. My biggest influence was of course the BeaTles. My older brother, Rick was playing in rock bands back then, although he never owned a drum set, he had a natural talent to be able to sit on a borrowed set and play a range of styles from Ringo to Ginger Baker of the Cream. His influence on me was huge because he showed me how to listen to all those drums in the top 10 and tap out the beat with my fingers. That was my first musical lesson…listening and imitating what I heard. My fingers learned a lot!*** My next step in the life long process of self-discovery was meeting Ben Kline in 5th grade. He was actually looking for a drummer for a rock and roll band. I stepped up and said I could play .In reality I thought I could because I wanted to be able to, even though my “out” was that I didn’t have a drum. On an invitation to Ben’s house he proceeded to show me his guitar prowess by playing just about anything I requested. Little did I know that I had just met a life long friend and a genius for his time. He also showed me how to play the snare, which he had owned to songs by the Who, Monkees, Kinks, Yardbyrds and many more that were current with the times. We actually performed before our 5th grade class. It was my first taste of performing before a crowd. The hook was set at such an early age.*** By time I turned 14 we had moved to another city. My time with Ben was less frequent, as I was fighting my way into a new school I really hated. This was the time I decided to withdraw and learn the guitar. A quick visit to Ben’s got me a loan on a ¾ size acoustic Harmony guitar and a paper with 5-6 chords on it. Ben’s advise to me then, was to learn how to be a solid rhythm guitar player and learn to sing. He said lead guitar players are a dime a dozen and that I wouldn’t meet too many people that could actually play and sing a whole song. I was off and running. Although I had a hard time learning the chords, let alone singing, I eventually discovered Neil Young and it took hold*** In turn I introduced Ben to CSN&Y and he had no trouble figuring the music out. My biggest achievement in that time was to learn a song on an underground record call “Live On Sugar Mountain” by Neil Young. That song was “Needle and The Damage Done”. By time I had learned it, the Harvest LP came out and needless to say…to be able to play that song right when the record came out was pretty cool to say the least. Over all I had always disliked my version of anyone’s song because I never felt I could do the songs justice. This was the seed that made me try to invent my own tunes. I never thought twice about it. I would always be showing Ben a little tidbit I made up with the chords he showed me. *** My next discovery was the one that hit me like a ton of bricks. At the age of 15 I remember being with Ben in a music store and looking at my first acoustic 12 string Guitar. It sounded so good to me. I knew it was what I wanted to master. Ben explained the tuning scheme to me, as I had already learned to tune a guitar by breaking 2 guitar’s neck on previously owned guitars. Since I was never going to be a lead guitar player, this was a perfect guitar to rhythm on. It also motivated me because it sounded like someone else was playing with me. My first inkling was to use my fingers to pick but eventually I turned to the flat pick*** The next turning point was the Army in Germany. I was on 24 hour duty baby-sitting a radio communications van, when (I always took my guitar to work on 24hrs.) I actually made a song with “words”! It was March 26th 1976. I collaborated with another life long friend, Steve Averette, our medic called Doc, (but everyone knew him as Nancy..just kiddin). He helped write lyrics on a few of my “keepers’ back then. After 2 ½ years in Germany it was time to return to the real world. I was given the recognition as a musician in the Army and it felt right. A lot of my friends thought I’d become a musician when I got back to the states, but I knew I’d do the responsible thing and get a real paying job. Once I got back I showed a good friend my new songs and how well I could play them. All the wind left the sails after he nonchalantly commented that I should get rid of the flat pick and try finger picking on the 12 string. Fizzle*** One of the things I’ve loved about the guitar is to learn it without classes, without knowing theory, and not even knowing what the string names were for a long time. I was looking for natural inquisitive experimentation. I wanted to find something that was not tried before. I think I have achieved that somewhat. I have developed over time the use of only 3 fingers to play with. The thumb is useless in my case, but I have also found a style, I’ve not yet witnessed in anyone else. The reason is probably because I’ve stumbled into it over time and didn’t care about the right way to do it. I hope to carry on with what I do. *** It all started with the drums and hey, isn’t the guitar basically a percussive instrument? After all this time, I have discovered that music has been a gift. I am very blessed to be able to do what I do. Now I am at a time in my life where I can give it back by performing and sharing my ideas with everyone. I now see that the music comes from everyone that I’ve ever listened to and it gets churned, refiltered and reflected back out. The music I play has been handed to me .Only time and my willing efforts has allowed this creativity to filter through me. If you nurture and work with your music, it will be interesting to see what comes back out. The North Carolina Songwriters CoOp has helped me savor this and I would encourage anyone to try and foster your own development to become a creative performer. This is the best place to be right now for me. I wish everyone this blessing. I also want to thank all the musicians in the CoOp that have influenced and encouraged me over the past years.0x0x0x0 peacex0x0x0x Keith Howard*** Was on NC Songwriters home page until I didn’t renew my dues.. : ) keith POST SCRIPT- I recieved a call from Ben's mother this past spring of 2007 that Ben had passed away of which I took very hard and I am still dwelling on his friendship, brotherhood and his genius he was born with. I will miss him and I hope to create a site with his families approval to share the many many many songs he wrote over the years. I will miss him dearly, as he was a great person in my life- Keith